Qormi 1
Effiong 48 pen;
Tarxien Rainbows 0
Qormi continued to climb up the Premier League ladder yesterday after a scrappy win over a 10-man Tarxien side.
After a tepid first half, the game sprang briefly into life after the changeover when an Alfred Effiong penalty gave Qormi their third consecutive win.
Although Tarxien won the admiration of those present for their battling display after going down to 10 men when goalkeeper Sean Cini was sent off during the penalty incident, Josef Mansueto’s Qormi were the happier lot as they leapfrogged the Rainbows, Valletta and Sliema in the standings.
On the back of Qormi’s 4-2 victory over Floriana, many presumed that Mansueto would have retained the same formation but he elected to change.
Frank Temile, back from suspension, Steve Agius and Bjorn Bondin were all awarded first-team recalls with Emerson Vella, Albert Bruce and Ryan Micallef having to do with a place on the bench.
Qormi began in 4-3-3 fashion with Joseph Chetcuti and Temile playing either side of Effiong in attack.
On the other hand, the changes in the Tarxien line-up were enforced upon coach Clive Mizzi by the one-match bans imposed on Owen Bugeja, Matthew Tabone and Wesley.
Mizzi replaced the trio with Kane Farrugia and Manuel Xerri as Manuel Caruana deputised for the Brazilian midfielder.
The two goalkeepers were hardly tested in a dull opening and it was Qormi who mustered the first notable move of the game on the half hour mark when Effiong raced into the box and rolled the ball to the advancing Anderson Quatrochi Santos whose grounder produced a smart save from Cini.
The two sides tried to up the pace as Qormi enjoyed a brief spell of pressure but their erratic passing and the Rainbows’ reluctance to press forward failed to lift the match.
At the start of the second half, Xerri made way for Luke Zahra as Mizzi tried to add some pace in his team. But his plans went out of the window when Cini was shown a straight red card for bringing down Temile inside the box.
From the penalty spot, Effiong beat reserve Antonio Chetcuti.
Despite their territorial sup-remacy, Qormi were finding it harder than expected to kill off their opponents who, to their credit, tried to attack whenever they had possession.
Past the hour, Effiong, latching on to a pass from Chetcuti, squared for Temile but the former Birkirkara player could not get a decent touch to the ball from in front of Chetcuti.
Three minutes from time, Anderson’s incursion on the left evaded the Tarxien defence, the ball was swept towards Temile who shot badly from routine distance.
Jonathan Bondin could have put his name on the scoresheet after being set up by Temile but Chetcuti rushed out of his line to close the angle for the Qormi midfielder.
Anderson had another effort stopped by Chetcuti after being released by a clever Effiong service.
As Qormi continued to squander chances, fears that their wastefulness might return to haunt them loomed large when Tarxien substitute Luke Aquilina went down under the challenge of Emerson Vella in the box but the referee waved play on.
Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, J. Bondin-6, M. Mazzetti-6, S. Agius-5.5, D. Pisani-6 (81 E. Vella), A. Quatrochi-6.5, J. Chetcuti-6 (85 C. Farrugia), Z. Levniac-6, B. Bondin-6, A. Effiong-6.5, F. Temile-6 (90 A. Bruce).
Tarxien Rainbows
S. Cini, K. Farrugia-5 (47 A. Chetcuti-5), M. Caruana-5.5 (71 L. Aquilina), Alvaro-5, Cleber-5, T. Caruana-6.5, R. Sammut-5.5, A. Cini-5, M. Xerri-4.5 (46 L. Zahra-4), A. Lopes Pereira-5, Jorge-5.5.
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann.
Yellow cards: Levniac, Jorge, Bjorn Bondin.
Red card: Cini (T) 47.
BOV player of the match: Alfred Effiong (Qormi).